Los Angeles, CA—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (1-5) continues its seven-game road trip with a midweek trip to No. 7 UCLA. The Highlanders and Bruins will face off at 7 pm PT on Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion.
GAME NOTES
NUGGET CLASSIC RECAP
UC Riverside dropped both of its games at the Nugget Classic hosted by Nevada, falling to SMU, 73-51 on Friday, and to Sacramento State, 99-72 on Sunday. Redshirt senior guard Lauren Holt was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 18 points per game on 53.8 percent shooting. In the loss to the Hornets, Holt set new season-highs with 22 points (9-15 FG), six rebounds and three steals.
THE DIFFERENCE IN RENO
While they came away even with their opponents in rebounds (83 to 83), and averaged just two fewer made field goals per game this past weekend, the Highlanders were outshot from three-point range (.354 to .171) and were well behind in the free throw battle (49-of-69 to 19-of-37). UCR allowed Sacramento State to go 30-of-42 (.714) at the line. In UCR's Division I history, the 30 free throws made are tied for the second-most of any opponent, while the 42 attempts allowed are the most ever.
TAKING ON THE PAC-12
UCLA will be the third and final Pac-12 team that UC Riverside will face this season. In their first two Pac-12 contests, the Highlanders were defeated by USC, 64-46 on Nov. 10, and at No. 14 Stanford, 53-43 on Nov. 17. The last time UC Riverside defeated a Pac-12 opponent came in a 71-65 home win over Washington State back on Nov. 28, 2012.
RANKED OPPOSITION
Sitting at No. 7 in both the Associated Press and RPI rankings, UCLA will be the Highlanders' second top-25 opponent this year and just the fourth top-10 opponent in program history. Earlier this year, UCR held No. 14 Stanford to just 53 points—a mark which ranks as the second-fewest points allowed against a top-25 team in program history. The only time UC Riverside allowed fewer points against a nationally ranked opponent was in a 50-47 win over No. 16 Vanderbilt on Dec. 6, 2008.
SHE'S ON THE LIST
Lauren Holt was named to the Nugget Classic All-Tournament Team after posting averages of 18 points, four rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game on 53.8 percent (14-26 FG) from the field and 36.4 percent (4-11 3FG) on threes. The 22 points tied a UCR-high for Holt, making it seven 20-point performances for her since the start of last season, second only to Réjane Vérin (9).
SLOW STARTS, STRONG FINISHES
UC Riverside has outscored three of its six opponents in the second half of games this season. The Highlanders have had most of their troubles in the opening ten minutes though, as they have entered the second quarter trailing by double-digits in five of six games. UCR's only win this season came against Fresno State on Nov. 19, after outscoring the Bulldogs 13-11 in the first quarter.
OTTO-MATIC
Redshirt sophomore guard Jannon Otto became the team's leading scorer for the season after putting up career-highs of 17 points (7-15 FG) and four assists against Sacramento State. For the year, Otto ranks in the top-15 in the Big West in scoring (10.8 ppg, 14th), assists (2.7 apg, T-9th), field goal percentage (.474, 11th) and steals (1.3 spg, 13th).
CHEF CURRY
The Highlanders' sole win came in senior guard Michelle Curry's most efficient performance of the season, as she went for 15 points (7-12 FG), six rebounds and three assists in a 68-56 victory over Fresno State on Nov. 19. Curry has scored 12 or more points in 13 of her last 15 outings dating back to last season.
SHE DID WHAT?
Redshirt sophomore forward Skyler Lewis has both of UC Riverside's double-doubles this season, good for second-most in the Big West. Her first double-double of the season came in the Highlanders' first win at Fresno State on Nov. 19, as she put up 20 points (8-13 FG) and 15 rebounds—both career-highs—while adding season-highs of three blocks and two assists.
SKYLER'S HISTORIC STATLINE
Lewis' dominant performance against the Bulldogs was the program's 25th 15-rebound game, and its tenth 20 point-15 rebound double-double. It also made her the only Highlander not named Kemie Nkele to have a game with 20 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
FREE THROW DISPARITY
UC Riverside has struggled to keep opposing teams off the free throw line this season, currently allowing 27.3 free throw attempts and 18.5 free throw makes per game—both marks which would set new single-season records. The Highlanders have attempted less free throws this season (90) than their opponents have made (111).
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
Despite giving up 99 points to Sacramento State—tied for the most points allowed in UCR's Division I era—the Highlanders still rank fourth in the Big West in scoring defense (68.7 ppg), first in opponent three-point percentage (.250), and second in opponent field goal percentage (.376). The program's all-time season-lows for opponent field goal and three-point percentage are 36.1 percent and 29.4 percent, respectively, both set in the 2006-07 season.
BLOCK PARTY
The Highlanders rank third in the Big West in blocks per game, thanks in large part to the frontcourt duo of Skyler Lewis and Marina Ewodo, who are both tied for seventh in the conference with 1.2 swats a night. Ewodo has a block in four straight games—the longest streak of her career.
R' HOUSE
UC Riverside began the year with a pair of games at SRC Arena, where it has gone 30-11 since the 2014-15 season. The Highlanders' next game will be the fifth of seven straight on the road. From Nov. 17-Dec. 22, UCR will play 11 games, only one of which will be at home.
ROADS OF THE RECENT PAST
Since 2015-16, UCR has a .488 record in contests played outside of SRC Arena, going 20-21 in away and neutral games combined.
DAZZLING DEBUT
Jannon Otto's 13 points in her UC Riverside debut are the second-most of any Highlander currently on the roster. Lauren Holt scored 22 points in her first game with the team against San Diego State on Nov. 11, 2016.
LOOK BACK TO LAST YEAR
The Highlanders qualified for postseason play for the third consecutive season in 2016-17, after posting a 16-15 overall record and 9-7 mark in Big West play to take the No. 5 seed into the Big West Tournament. UCR went on to defeat UC Irvine 92-60 in the First Round, setting a new program postseason record for single-game points, and ending a five-year drought with its first playoff win since 2011.
SOCRATES, PLATO, ARISTOTLE, MARGARITIS
Last year's Big West Tournament win over UC Irvine was Head Coach John Margaritis' 200th victory with the program, making him just the fourth Big West coach ever to reach 200 wins. Now in his 14th season with the team, Margaritis will look to add to his six combined NCAA Tournament and WNIT appearances, three Big West Tournament titles and two Big West Conference regular season titles.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Highlanders have 30 regular season games on their schedule this year, 18 of which will be played on the road. The remaining non-conference road matchups include UCLA (Nov. 28), UNLV (Dec. 2), Iowa State (Dec. 17), South Dakota (Dec. 19) and Minnesota (Dec. 22).
FOUR IN, FOUR OUT
After the departure of four players from last year's roster — including leading scorers Réjane Vérin and Simone DeCoud — the Highlanders bring four new faces to the team for 2017-18. They are redshirt freshman Halle Sam-Boudreau (Oak Hills HS), and true freshmen Tianna Eaton (Rowland HS), Keilanei Cooper (Vista Murrieta HS), and Daphne Gnago (Insep Scolarité, France).
ADD 'EM UP
Michelle Curry is nearing the program's all-time top-10 in both career assists (239) and free throws made (229). She needs four more assists and 11 more free throws.
HOLT HAS RANGE
Lauren Holt connected on 57-of-149 three-pointers last year, making the most threes of any Highlander in their debut season. That mark stands at No. 6 in program history for a single season, while her career 37.0 three-point percentage as a Highlander ranks fourth all-time.
ALL-CONFERENCE, ALL DAY
UC Riverside had at least four players named to the various All-Big West for the third consecutive year last season—something it had never done before. Michelle Curry (Honorable Mention) earned her third career all-conference selection, while Lauren Holt (Honorable Mention) and Skyler Lewis (All-Freshman) were both honored in their first seasons in the conference.
TOP QUARTER SCORERS
The NCAA switched from halves to quarters in the 2015-16 season. The Highlanders' single-quarter scoring highs for team and player this season both came against Sacramento State on Nov. 26. UCR scored 31 points in the fourth quarter, including 14 points from Lauren Holt.
To view this game's complete Game Notes in PDF form, click here.
